Kosher?

Is Bourbon Kosher?...I know a little bit about what that means but is any bourbon Kosher?...

I remember looking at a little bitty salt packet...on it there was a little K in a circle...I asked what that meant...I was told it was Kosher...I don't think that I have seen the Kosher symbol on any bourbon products...

Re: Kosher?

I should know this better than I do, being a member of the "tribe", but I have been told bourbon and all straight whiskey meet the criteria for kosher preparation. The difficulty arises, apparently, with certain single malts and any other whisky which may contain sherry or other wine, so malts aged or finished in sherry casks can sometimes raise an issue with those who follow strictly the rules in this regard. Apparently, again, there is a percentage of wine in whisky that is considered not significant, so that would meet the rules. I once had a discussion about this with a religious co-religionist on the eve of Friday shabbat (Sabbath) at the fine liquor section of a Quebec liquor board outlet on Ste. Catherine Street in Montreal. He was very knowledgeable about malts, and not just in regard to the kosher-related rules. He also liked bourbon, citing I recall the Birthday Bourbon of Forester as the best he had tasted. I don't think he could challenge me on the effects of patent distillation on congeneric content; on the other hand, he told me, "don't bother with any Ardbeg after 1975, they are good but the distillery had abandoned using malt from its own maltings by then". Whether he was right or wrong about Ardbeg, I learned something that day, amongst other things, not to have preconceptions.

Re: Kosher?

Max Shapira once explained to me the issues and problems with making bourbon kosher. I don't remember the explanation but I'm sure he does. Being Jewish, he looked into it but decided it was more trouble than it was worth.

Re: Kosher?

But I wonder what those problems (?) are. The article posted by Onecubeonly seems categoric that most domestic whiskey meets the (Halachic) criteria. Of course, no sherry or other wine would enter into Heaven Hill's straight whiskey..

Re: Kosher?

Is there a distinction between everyday kosher and kosher for passover? I think that may have been the issue. I seem to recall, although I may have this wrong, that the Shapira family had to transfer ownership to a non-Jew for some period of time and for bourbon, this was made impractical by the aging cycle, but I may have this completely wrong.

The last time this subject came up, a couple of years ago, I joked that it probably had to do with how they killed the yeast. Some lurker, apparently not understanding the joke, was offended and wrote an angry note to Butler. Naturally, I can't resist repeating the offense.